In this study, I used a qualitative methodology to investigate the experiences of long-serving Black teachers in American public schools, illuminating their ongoing dedication to the field despite many institutional challenges. Through interviews with these long-serving educators, the study aimed to answer the research question: "What were…

African American male educators are becoming extinct in our current United States School system. Representing less than 2% of the teaching force, our recruitment efforts will need adjustments to increase this population of educators in schools (Bristol & Mentor, 2018; Goings & Bianco, 2016; Wallace & Gagen, 2019). To address this…

This dissertation explores the issue of minority underrepresentation in K-12 educational leadership roles, examining its perceived causes and implications within academic settings. The research utilized a qualitative approach involving detailed surveys and interviews with school administrators from K-12 schools in Western North Carolina, Upstate…

This article details the process of recruiting and starting a cohort to prepare Latinx school administrators to fill impending positions in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district. The authors provide the context and steps of establishing the administrator preparation program.

Purpose: This investigation examined the challenges faced by women in leadership positions in the US construction industry. The overall purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the challenges, and identify suitable practices, strategies and suggestions to support the employment and retention of women in the US construction…

Purpose: This study aims to explore the stories of two young refugee women, Sue Mar and Amora, and how their adolescent identities, experiences, and beliefs, partially shaped by their English teacher, helped pave their paths to higher education. Design/methodology/approach: This study is guided by the lens of critical literacy as "a way of…

An abundant and longstanding body of scholarship has underscored the White femininity of the U.S. K-12 teaching workforce and the need to diversify its ranks. Black males, in particular, potentially struggle with the notion of becoming teachers given their often highly negative lived experiences with schools and schooling including low…

This article details how two teacher education programs are leveraging role modeling to influence teacher candidates (TCs) by providing a prolonged, immersive, and high quality physical education (PE) activity experience early in each program and by systematically referring to and reflecting upon that experience in subsequent courses across the…

Social marketing is a community and public health approach used in nutrition education that helps to complement programming. Researchers evaluated an eight-week social marketing campaign to promote healthy eating behaviors and encourage fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income caregivers. The campaign focused on the benefits of modeling…

We examine the long-run impacts of having a same-race teacher. First, we leverage data from the Tennessee STAR class-size experiment to show that black students randomly assigned to a black teacher in grades K-3 are 5 percentage points (7%) more likely to graduate from high school and 4 percentage points (13%) more likely to enroll in college than…

This paper will provide a detailed review of a study to evaluate the performance of African American males in select career and technical education programs at a large community college in North Carolina. The study will identify which courses this student population outperforms in when compared to other courses based on final grades received and…

Technology makes up our daily lives and is a part of everything we do. The tech job market is expanding with more and more jobs needing to be filled by those with the necessary qualifications. Students are realizing the vast opportunities a career in technology can offer them and many are making the conscience decision to major in a technical…

Dr. Michael S. Matthews is professor and director of the Academically & Intellectually Gifted graduate programs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is incoming Coeditor of the "Gifted Child Quarterly" and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Children. Dr. Matthews also currently…

Since 2012, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has supported educational enrichment in rural areas by awarding over $3.3 million in grants to six outstanding organizations operating in Iowa, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In this report, the authors combine the experiences of these organizations with findings from the…

Significant life experience research suggests that the presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time…