School improvement depends, fundamentally, upon collective agency--a group capability to work productively together and solve problems. Unfortunately, many schools operate in contexts of adversity that can pose considerable challenges with developing collective agency. Schools serving high-poverty communities of color often face chronic resource…

Learning engagement is malleable to environmental change. An important learning environment created by teacher-student interactions is perceived teacher autonomy support, which may trigger learning engagement directly and/or indirectly by enhancing academic self-efficacy. In this study, we apply a network approach to explore the relationships…

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…

Pacing guides are commonplace yet controversial in American public schools. For teachers who question their usefulness, one means to circumvent them is to exercise autonomy in pedagogical decision-making, though doing so comes with challenges. Through interviews, we examined how 87 gifted and general education 4th and 5th grade math and…

This paper explores the school culture and sense of community of a Midwestern middle school after seven years of personalized learning reform. This mixed method study identified a strong school culture based on the School Culture Triage Survey. Focus group interviews supported the survey findings and attributed the successful implementation and…

This case study focused on middle school and high school teachers in an independent school to explore their perceptions of how overparenting influenced them in the classroom. A qualitative case study was conducted within an independent school in the southeast United States. Eleven middle school and high school teachers, which represented 52% of…

Context: Research has demonstrated the importance of teacher quality for student achievement above all other school-based factors (Aaronson et al., 2007; Goldhaber, 2002; Rivkin et al., 2005; Rockoff, 2004). Yet while states and districts have allocated significant resources toward professional learning (PL) aimed at improving instruction (Jacob…

Nationally, teachers are leaving at heightened levels, and school culture has been identified as one possible root cause. Research has identified environments that are conducive to a positive school culture and ways to positively impact teacher retention. Furthermore, research highlights national initiatives that have been created to retain…

In this dissertation, I K-8 mathematics teacher agency and learning within a research-practice partnership (RPP) context. I asked three primary research questions: (a) How is teacher agency enacted within the RPP?; (b) what do teachers perceive they are learning from their participation in the RPP?; and (c) how is teacher agency connected to…

This dissertation study investigated secondary mathematics teachers' designing and enacting lessons to draw on students' multiple mathematical knowledge bases. The ultimate objective of incorporating open spaces in mathematics lessons is to support students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in developing mathematical…

Pacing guides are commonplace yet controversial in American public schools. For teachers who question their usefulness, one means to circumvent them is to exercise autonomy in pedagogical decision-making, though doing so comes with challenges. Through interviews, we examined how 87 gifted and general education 4th and 5th grade math and…

Objective: Previous studies suggest hope may protect against stress and burnout. Hope has also been associated with higher levels of job satisfaction for individuals across professions. However, no research has yet explored the relationships among school counselors' hope, stress, and job satisfaction. Method: We conducted a hierarchical regression…

The prioritization and overemphasis of mathematics and English language arts for decades in U.S. curricula has led to the othering of various forms of knowledge and an intellectual hierarchy that jeopardizes students' self concepts. Premised on Aristotle's ta endoxa and Bourdieu's field theory, a critical discourse analysis was conducted to…

Previous research identifies instructional program coherence as a school condition that has positive effects on student performance. This study investigates how instructional program coherence (IPC) operates as a social mechanism that supports teachers' psychological needs. We hypothesized that IPC would be positively related to teacher perceived…

Research on the role of teacher agency has been growing significantly during the last decade. Agentic teachers act purposefully and constructively to direct their professional development and contribute to the quality of education, especially in rural areas. Professional development is mutually constituted between teachers and socio-cultural…