The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate transformative learning strategies implemented by 10 Title I elementary principals that influence novice teacher retention. Data were gathered by individual interviews. Data were analyzed using Creswell's (2013) description of qualitative research as a collection of data…

Maternal emergent literacy practices during shared-reading interactions with 18-36-month-old toddlers were examined. The investigation of emergent literacy behaviours of both mothers and toddlers investigated included the examination of phonological awareness and written language awareness. Participants included 15 mother-toddler dyads from middle…

This qualitative, grounded theory study investigated teacher perspectives on the relationship between executive function and reading aptitude. The influence of executive function may be underestimated in terms of its impact on reading aptitude, which could have significant implications on how reading aptitude is currently defined. The foundational…

Foster children are academically at risk as a result of abuse, neglect and family disruptions. Findings from previous studies have underscored the critical role played by foster parents in monitoring the academic progress of the children placed in the home. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to identify the skill…

The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased dramatically both nationally and in Nebraska, accompanied by an equally substantial increase in public school education for this population in inclusive classroom settings. A growing body of research supports the need for teachers proficient in evidence-based…

With tightening university budgets, never before has the activity level of research grant proposal writing been more intense. With increased proposal numbers, including for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) prestigious CAREER award, has also come increased competition and decreased funding rates. This dissertation has searched for successful…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of teacher attrition among the emotional and behavior disorder (EBD) student population within a self-contained environment through the lived experiences of former EBD teachers. Attrition among special education teachers has been a perennial issue. Special education teacher…

Critical thinking continues to be an educational concern even though many school systems, educators, and academic articles have stressed its importance. To teach critical thinking, teachers need to learn what it is and how it is taught. It is unknown to what extent critical thinking skills are taught and assessed in classrooms. The purpose of this…

Students' perceptions of engineering have been documented through studies involving interviews, surveys, and word associations that take a direct approach to asking students about various aspects of their understanding of engineering. Research on perceptions of engineering rarely focuses on how students would portray engineering to others.…

This article describes an undergraduate Participatory Action Research (PAR) course in which students with and without intellectual disabilities collaborated as co-researchers in order to explore various aspects of the university experience. The article describes the university course as well as presents results of the students' PAR projects. The…

This article offers a theoretical analysis and phenomenological study of the leadership experiences of black women college students at a predominantly white higher education institution. Existing literature argues that leadership development is vital to the college experience as an opportunity to empower and engage students in social change.…

In this article the author presents the argument that racialized beliefs are always already present within the narratives of White people (Kant, 1996; Ricour, 1991), and in this case specifically teachers. The presence of a racially contextualized semantic move is evident when the person sharing is attempting to bond racially (Sleeter, 1990). The…

Research has shown that parental involvement is an important component of students' academic achievement, yet in rural areas, such involvement may be difficult to attain. The purpose of this collective case study was to investigate the perceptions of parents of young elementary students in a rural school district regarding their role in…

The local school district in the current study was struggling to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets in reading because secondary students were scoring below the basic level in reading and their content area teachers had little or no training in reading deficiencies. What had been speculated, yet never tested, was the utility of teacher…

This study investigated elementary school teachers' conceptions of their beliefs and expectations of African American students, their pedagogical practices, and the rationale for choosing the pedagogical practices for grades 3 through at Star Maker Elementary. The researcher employed a mixed methodology. The Math Teacher of African American…