Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a framework that is used in many school districts in the state of Florida. When implemented with fidelity, this preventative program is designed to promote a positive climate and culture in schools, with the aim of limiting behavior that distracts or disrupts the learning environment, thus…

This qualitative dissertation explores the implementation of new instructional coaching programs in elementary schools, focusing on the perceptions of instructional coaches and teachers. Amid growing demands for educational improvement and teacher support in the United States, instructional coaching has emerged as a pivotal strategy for enhancing…

Today's society has begun to focus on promoting positive student outcomes beyond academic proficiencies. In recent years, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has gradually gained a positive reputation in the educational community which has led many schools to implement SEL programs. Though adopting an SEL program seems like the answer to promoting…

Professional development can be used as a tool to increase teacher confidence and competence. Consequently, it may improve the quality of education available to students. Previous research suggests that many teachers lack the confidence to teach health despite it being an area that they are expected to teach. This paper locates and considers the…

This study advances the understanding of providing effective professional development for elementary teachers in the field as the Pennsylvania STEELS standards require inquiry-based learning as a component of the science classroom. I sought out elementary teacher perceptions surrounding professional development as it pertained to their ability to…

This report derives its findings from Summer/Fall 2023 phone interviews with 22 facilitators and eight administrators following their participation in Math for All during the 2022-23 school year. The findings, summarized below, provide insight into the implementation experience, including challenges, areas of success, and plans for sustaining and…

Teaching the scientific, historical, and social facets of global climate change, its causes, and inequitable impacts presents a challenge to most K-12 teachers. In this article we describe the design and implementation of a yearlong professional learning program created to support urban, public K-12 teachers in the creation and enactment of…

The purpose of this study is to examine elementary teachers' perceptions of SEL and its association with students' social-emotional competency. This study's population was teachers in an elementary school in a suburban Atlanta school district. Research participants were selected through purposive or criterion sampling. Each participant was emailed…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how elementary school teachers describe their experiences from the professional development training that provide professional development trainings related to ADHD students and how they implement what they have learned in their classrooms in the United States. The theoretical…

This qualitative case study explored the perceptions of instructional coaches in order to understand the ways in which context influenced their view of their roles and how they supported teacher growth. The theoretical and conceptual foundations for this study include a distributed perspective, a phenomenologically informed lens, and a pragmatic…

This holistic, mixed-methods action research case study aimed to determine the influence of professional development on participants' mathematical teaching practices and how the changes influenced students' opportunities for discourse. In this two-year study, participants engaged in two professional development phases and implemented new…

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is recognized as an effective method for addressing varied student learning needs within a single classroom. However, integrating DI into teaching practices remains a challenge for many teachers. This non-experimental study employs a quantitative comparative design to examine the understanding and implementation of…

The presence of School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in the classroom is highly dependent on teacher implementation. However, relatively little research has focused solely on the implementation of SWPBIS components in the classroom environment. This exploratory study utilized an online survey, titled the "SWPBIS…

The effectiveness of school-based universal prevention programs is frequently diminished due to low-quality implementation. Organizational factors support high-quality implementation because of their broad influence across implementers. Conceptually, implementation leadership (i.e., behaviors that prioritize, reward, and support evidence-based…

Teacher preparation programs are designed to prepare teachers to support students. However, the supports and experiences teachers are exposed to are often described as academic support. This study explored how special education teachers depicted how their teacher preparation programs prepared them to manage elementary student classroom behavior by…