The aim of this applied dissertation was to develop a better understanding of how elementary principals in a large school district in the southeastern United States perceive their self-efficacy as instructional leaders and administrators. The pressures of high accountability play an impactful role in how principals view their roles and their…

Across the United States, school districts are reshaping the role of principal supervisors to include supervision practices intended to enhance the instructional and leadership skills of the principals they supervise. The purpose of this research study is to add to the existing body of research involving the predominant practices that principal…

As stakeholders in education reflect on best practices to support the constantly evolving field of education, a strong national interest in school climate has emerged. The problem addressed in this study is that unsupportive administrator-teacher relationships negatively impact school climate. Poor administrator-teacher relationships can lead to…

Stronger administrative support for teachers has consistently been shown to increase teacher retention (Holmes et al., 2019). Nationally, researchers have explored the connection between administrative support and teacher retention, however, administrative support is not clearly defined (Billingsley & Bettini, 2019; Podolsky et al., 2019;…

This was a case study of the principal succession planning practices of a large school district in Oregon. For the study, the researcher interviewed nine principals and nine central office administrators and surveyed 17, K-12 assistant principals within the studied school district. The findings from this study reveal many strengths and weaknesses…

There is a need for school leaders to be able to address barriers that prevent historically marginalized students from being successful in school while also preparing them to be democratic citizens. There is evidence that many school leaders enter the profession underprepared to be able to provide the needed support for equity. This qualitative…

School principals are moved from one school to another because of retirements, resignations, or school divisions' rotation policies. Leadership transitions can be challenging for the principal and the school community given that the leaders have little to no knowledge of the new school, its culture, and its staff and no established relationships.…

The current teacher attrition rate for teachers with 5 years or less of experience is reported to be about 8% within the 1st year and an additional 16% more leaving within the first 5 years (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). Furthermore, middle school is one of the most difficult to staff levels in education. This mixed-methods study…

Teacher turnover, or those teachers who either move between schools or leave the profession entirely, is a growing problem in today's education system. Though education research is flush with studies about turnover's causes and the success of certain policy initiatives, little attention has been paid to the perspectives of those policymakers often…

This explanatory mixed methods study explores rural Oklahoma STEM subjects and STEM elective teachers' professional experiences, including professional development and certification pathways. Participants completed the Teacher Beliefs and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey (T-STEM Survey, Friday Institute for Education Innovation, 2012) for teachers and…

In this qualitative study the researcher examined the lived experiences of school leaders in the south-central region of the United Stated in developing a school's climate and culture post-pandemic. The problem addressed in this study is the decline of positive school climate and culture post-pandemic, resulting in the need to support students'…

Substantial research has clearly established the relationship between school attendance and indicators of student achievement over time in large, urban cities using longitudinal studies. However, there is an insufficient amount of literature that focuses on an immediate relationship in smaller, suburban areas with differing demographics. This…

The importance of school support staff was found to be a critical factor in students' success. However, role ambiguity, bias, and limited quantitative research have caused questions around the impact that support staff have within the school setting. Consequently, this quantitative correlational research study examined the relationship between a…

This quantitative correlational study accessed publicly available Oklahoma archival data to analyze the strength of the relationship between one dependent variable, the 1:1 technology score of 203 school districts, and four independent variables (socioeconomic status, community type, school district size, and school district funding sources) and…

There is an issue occurring in public schools that is not often addressed and that is the Black-White disparity in exclusionary discipline. The conversation often centers around the "achievement gap" or more recently the "opportunity gap". But what are some of the factors that can be addressed in schools that are leading to…