This qualitative descriptive study explored how progressive teachers navigate the tensions between their beliefs and teaching practices while teaching in high-stakes accountability in the U.S. The target population was progressive education teachers currently working in progressive programs in America. The theoretical foundation was Fransson and…

The purpose of this action research study was to expand preservice teacher perspectives on the possibilities of schooling through engagement with nontraditional and progressive learning environments. Nine preservice teachers were given the opportunity to experience schools on the learning edge and develop perspectives on what is possible in…

While progressive education has been practiced in formal learning settings for over a century, there is a relatively limited amount of contemporary scholarship on such schools. Acknowledging the nebulous nature of this genre, my study was undertaken to identify the philosophies and practices of a contemporary progressive school. From the…

Laboratory schools in the United States have been in existence in some form since the establishment of normal schools in 1839. Heavily criticized in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, many laboratory schools would close their doors for a variety of reasons. One laboratory school in particular, the Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School, was established under…

Students in high-performing high schools often suffer from a constellation of stressors related to expectations such as good grades, number of Advanced Placement and honors classes, and successful admission to college. Critics have cast this method of educating students as outdated and more akin to a factory model. As a result, some educators have…

This study explores the experiences of teaching and learning in a progressive school. In this study, I explored three primary research questions: a) How do efforts to maintain a progressive educational approach to teaching and learning play out in the experiences of teachers and administrators? b) How does test-based reform affect or challenge…

The purpose of this Action Research study was to explore best practices in progressive school design and understand how a documentary and community panel event on the creation of such schools can create grassroots change. Cycle 1 data collection included interviews with eight individuals who were teachers, administrators, and caregivers to…

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted and transformed public education and revealed deeply embedded inequities within educational systems. The unpredictable shift to virtual learning exposed these disparities, illuminating the need for innovative, student-centered educational approaches. This dissertation examines how Black educators who…

The Progressive Movement in the United States was a complex, multifaceted, and organic reform movement, comprised of diverse reformers who instituted unique social and educational initiatives to improve society. This historical study focused on the establishment and success of the Children's School Farm of New York, an early twentieth-century…

"Progressive education" is a term more often used than fully understood. Generations of authors have attempted to settle on a definition for this term, generally by looking to the work of John Dewey around the turn of the 20th century. Many have noted the variety of interpretations of this ideology, with some arguing that no single…

This research was a narrative study of the professional learning of workshop leaders, that is, senior teachers whose professional growth prepared them to share their learning with other teachers. Six participants in this study made up three cases. Case 1 included three workshop leaders in an IB-PYP school. Case 2 was two workshop leaders who were…

This dissertation reads David Bartholomae's and Peter Elbow's famous debate about academic and personal writing as a debate about how best to empower students, both as individuals and as representatives of communities, according to a progressive understanding of student-empowerment. I read the debate both in terms of its historical context--as a…

This qualitative study examined the impact of architectural design and arrangement on the learning experiences of students. Specifically, it examined how school design and arrangement foster interactions and relationships among students and adults relevant to integral learning experiences. This case study was limited to the breadth of knowledge…

This study investigated the perceptions of three alternative and three traditional route participants of their experiences prior to receiving teacher certification. It further investigated whether their experiences proved to be educative, mis-educative, or a combination of the two. Observations, interviews, and lesson plans were analyzed according…

This dissertation used a phenomenological approach in investigating the development of a grassroots community history-based educational outreach and chronicled its development from inception to incorporation into the mission of an established institution. The research questions focused on Deweyan principles of student-centered, experiential…